I decided to start another thread instead of continuing the one about my motor problems. Those are fixed. Now I've got to get my jack plate tuned in. I need more bow lift. I don't know if a jack plate will help, or hurt that, but in my mind it should help.
I started out with the center of the prop 4 1/2 inches below the level line of the keel. I didn't get the bow lift that I needed. The boat performed well. It handled better than it did prior to the jack plate. The top speed did not change one bit. The porpoising at WOT did not improve, nor did it get any worse. I made the executive decision that dropping the motor would help lift the bow and I lowered the motor an inch. It had no effect. None. Boat performed exactly the same as it did prior to lowering the motor.
I did pick up about 100 RPM's with the jack plate. Now I'm running 5500 RPM's on a 98 115 Yamaha V4 2 stroke. I figure that's pretty dang close to optimum. Dropping to a 19 pitch prop should put me at around 5700 and that was recommended to me, but I don't know if that's actually what I need to do or not.
Would a 4 blade prop give me more bow lift? Seems to me that it would, but that's really just a guess on my part. What negatives would I experience with a 4 blade prop and would I need to drop pitch if I go with 4 blades?
EDIT: Forgot to mention, it's a manual 6" Vance jack plate.
Thanks for any advice.